100 FR - 51.09 (24.70/26.39) - Spun my wheels and didn't nail my turns like I wanted to. Would have liked to have been under 51. But really can't complain.

400 EZ (100 swim/100 kick w/ BD) w/ SNKL

100 BK - 1:02.47 (30.65/31.79) - My throwaway event. I never race backstroke so I figured, "why not?" Second 50 was much better than the first 50.

600 EZ (100 swim/100 kick w/ BD) w/ SNKL

100 FL - 55.98 (26.30/29.68) - Best race of the afternoon. Was really happy with this time given all the racing I had already done prior. Locked up a little bit on the last 4-5 strokes, but really felt in control for the rest of the race.

400 EZ (100 swim/100 kick w/ BD) w/ SNKL

200 I.M. - 2:06.81 (26.74/33.73/36.76/29.58) - By this point I was starting to run on fumes. Wasn't sure what to expect from this race. Happy with the time and effort for right now, but it definitely exposed the fact that I have not done any serious I.M. training!

600 EZ (100 swim/100 kick w/ BD) w/ SNKL

50 FR - 23.53 (11.20/12.33) - Had to breathe twice to get through it. Doug actually recorded the race (unbeknownst to me at the time). When I can figure out how to get it off my phone I will post it. It was a whole lot of flailing propped up with a whole lot of kicking.

200 EZ

Total: 4550

Really wanted to push my body to the limit with this meet. High race volume and short turnaround. Today's session from the start of warm-up to the end of the meet was only 3 hours.

, December 8th, 2018 at 09:39 PM (Maple Syrup with a Side of Chlorine)

I had a good night's sleep and checked into the meet online before heading down to swim during day 2 of the New England scm champs. I was able to get two guys from my workout group to join me and it worked out that our college guy Noah picked me up and drove to meet Greg who drove the rest of the way to the meet. Worcester, MA, is about 2.5 hours from home and since my first event wasn't scheduled until 12:30ish we were able to not feel too rushed driving down.

Once at the pool we found our buddies from the Pittsfield Y and Simon's Rock teams to sit with and I got in for warmups. Did my 1200 standard in the scy side of the pool that was available for warmup/down throughout the meet while the women swam the 400 free. I felt good and decided against swimming any extra before my first race:

event 12: 50 fly - 30.28
- I had a solid swim although I hoped to get under 30. My start underwaters were not great but I nailed them off the turn. Happy with the swim.

At this point there was a scheduled 30 minute break, so I hopped into the competition pool and swam 700 meters including a few sprints to play with the backstroke wedges, which I only see at these championship meets. I also ate half of a PBJ sandwich I brought along. I didn't warm up again before swimming:

event 14: 200 back - 2:27.59
34.88
37.21 (1:12.09)
37.46
38.04 (1:15.50)
Super excited to come in under 2:30, and this time was 4 seconds faster than last year! I stuck to my plan of starting strong then building into the second 50 before attacking the last 100, and aside from dying a bit at the end I felt like I executed the plan well. My underwaters are not the greatest due to lack of endurance so there is room for improvement there. Should hold up for a Top Ten time. Did 300yds and got on deck to watch Noah and Greg in the 50 free and barely catch my breath for my swim:

event 16: 50 free - 27.69
Tired but pumped to get under 28. I was probably a little too conservative on the first lap but locked down for the finish. Hopped in for 400y warmdown and then rested leading into the 400 MR. I have a long shot at making TT in the 100 back and we were able to get help from Pittsfield by having Jack swim with us (although the points didn't count since we are different workout groups). The order was Mike, Greg, Jack, Noah and we all had a fun time swimming in a relay!

event 24: 400 MR (100 back split) - 1:08.30
33.67/34.63
I was aiming to get under 1:10 and felt strong and in control during the entire swim. I employed my strong/build/fast/fast strategy and was able to hit my underwaters at 8/7/5/4 - less than I wanted on the last two walls. We came in at 5:09 and had a great time.

I finished off with 400 yards warmdown and we headed back to VT. I am a bit sore but really happy to have not only swam well myself but also share in the experience with some of my teammates. Some monster swims were thrown down on both the mens and womens side - swim phone results here: https://www.swimphone.com/meets/even...cfm?smid=10937